Palin, Huckabee and the GOP's 'Hick Factor'

By Sarah Posner, AlterNet. Posted September 9, 2008.

Why did the GOP choose a political neophyte to appeal to the religious
right over a seasoned politico? Fried squirrels and economic populism.
In a convention hall filled with ecstatic Republicans taking in Sarah
Palin's speech on Wednesday night, one observer seemed a little less
than enthusiastic. Mike Huckabee, the former Republican presidential
hopeful spurned by party leaders and religious right honchos, must
have felt like the hockey mom from Wasilla stole the thunder of the
Southern Baptist preacher from Hope.

Huckabee, it seems, represents "Real America" a little too much for
the Republican Party's taste.

On the surface, Palin's and Huckabee's appeals to the religious right
seem indistinguishable -- in fact, Huckabee, with a preacher's
background and experience in elected office, could possibly have had...